Ferguson Megathread

[Coccygia]

Looting and rioting should never been allowed and should be pun shied to the full degree of the law.

That being said, the African American community still faces racial prejudice from police departments and the majority.

Not as much as they like to insist. The biggest problem black people in this country have is their own crappy behavior and total refusal to accept any responsibility whatever for it. Please not I am not talking about all blacks, but only a minority, although they get most of the attention in the media. (The squeaky wheel does the least work and gets the most grease. Or the 10% that cause 90% of the problems.)

[Yumyumsuppertime]

If I tend to respond to your assertions in this manner, it's only because you have a strong tendency to be wrong on almost every major point, regardless of the topic being discussed. However, if this annoys you, then I'll ask a question rather than making a declarative statement:

Is it your contention that people of color do not face numerous and significant obstacles that are not generally faced by white people in this society, at least to the same degree?

Yes and no. In the few instances it which it is yes, it is not for the reasons you think.

What reasons do I think for this, and what are the real ones? And please give more detail on "Yes and no".

[Yumyumsuppertime]

If I were to accuse you of trolling--which I am most emphatically not doing--it would have less to do with simple disagreement, and more to do with your continuous statements of inflammatory and frankly ludicrous viewpoints that seem to have no purpose but to provoke anger or outrage.

Of course, you assume I'm just trying to provoke outrage and be inflammatory. If that were the case, I would have been banned a long time ago.

Actually, I just stated that I was not accusing you of that, meaning that I am making no such assumption.

[Yumyumsuppertime]

Looting and rioting should never been allowed and should be pun shied to the full degree of the law.

That being said, the African American community still faces racial prejudice from police departments and the majority.

Not as much as they like to insist. The biggest problem black people in this country have is their own crappy behavior and total refusal to accept any responsibility whatever for it. Please not I am not talking about all blacks, but only a minority, although they get most of the attention in the media. (The squeaky wheel does the least work and gets the most grease. Or the 10% that cause 90% of the problems.)

"The biggest problem black people in this country have is their own crappy behavior..." (Emphasis mine)

"Please not (sic) I am not talking about all blacks, but only a minority...."

You can't have it both ways.

[Gauthier]

Not as much as they like to insist. The biggest problem black people in this country have is their own crappy behavior and total refusal to accept any responsibility whatever for it. Please not I am not talking about all blacks, but only a minority, although they get most of the attention in the media. (The squeaky wheel does the least work and gets the most grease. Or the 10% that cause 90% of the problems.)

"The biggest problem black people in this country have is their own crappy behavior..." (Emphasis mine)

"Please not (sic) I am not talking about all blacks, but only a minority...."

You can't have it both ways.

It's like how blacks are supposed to be inherently lazy and shiftless unless they're slaves, in which case they suddenly become one of the hardest working people on the planet. *nod nod*

[Pragia]

"The biggest problem black people in this country have is their own crappy behavior..." (Emphasis mine)

"Please not (sic) I am not talking about all blacks, but only a minority...."

You can't have it both ways.

It's like how blacks are supposed to be inherently lazy and shiftless unless they're slaves, in which case they suddenly become one of the hardest working people on the planet. *nod nod*

It's almost like you can only spout off strawman generalizations without contributing any real thing to the argument at all. The belief that the poor don't work hard enough is sadly true in my experience. My dad is a deadbeat who's given up on looking for a job, while my mom works her hands to the bone, just earning herself a VP position. Your classifications based on race do nothing and mean absolutely nothing. It's the person's work ethic in the end, and the color of your skin obviously doesn't matter much, because there are plenty of white people who are also poor.

[Mavorpen]

Not as much as they like to insist. The biggest problem black people in this country have is their own crappy behavior and total refusal to accept any responsibility whatever for it. Please not I am not talking about all blacks, but only a minority, although they get most of the attention in the media. (The squeaky wheel does the least work and gets the most grease. Or the 10% that cause 90% of the problems.)

"The biggest problem black people in this country have is their own crappy behavior..." (Emphasis mine)

"Please not (sic) I am not talking about all blacks, but only a minority...."

You can't have it both ways.

Perhaps he also has black friends as well. Then he CAN'T be saying something racist.

It's like how blacks are supposed to be inherently lazy and shiftless unless they're slaves, in which case they suddenly become one of the hardest working people on the planet. *nod nod*

It's almost like you can only spout off strawman generalizations without contributing any real thing to the argument at all. The belief that the poor don't work hard enough is sadly true in my experience. My dad is a deadbeat who's given up on looking for a job, while my mom works her hands to the bone, just earning herself a VP position. Your classifications based on race do nothing and mean absolutely nothing. It's the person's work ethic in the end, and the color of your skin obviously doesn't matter much, because there are plenty of white people who are also poor.

Oh, I wasn't aware you had anecdotes. That changes everything. After all, we all know that anecdotes are legitimate as citations for claims.

[Big Jim P]

The criminals get the press, because those stories sell the papers.

Well, yes. However, we have a chance to discuss the actual topics at play, the ones being stated by the majority of protesters. We don't have to allow ourselves to be distracted by vandals and looters.

But the media want us to remain distracted.

[Socialist Tera]

Ferguson police shut down armed 'Oath Keeper' vigilantes guarding rooftops of besieged town

The group offered protection for private businesses against looters and arsonists
Oath Keepers have since been threatened with arrest for operating without a licence
Police struggled to contain violence following grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson
The Oath Keepers have now left their rooftop posts but will remain in Ferguson to protest

A 'mysterious' militia group that appeared on rooftop patrols in Ferguson pledging to protect private property has been ordered to stand down.
Oath Keepers, a vigilante organization consisting of former and current military, police and firefighters, abandoned their posts on Saturday night after being threatened with arrest.
Equipped with militia-style clothing and firearms, the Oath Keepers had been offering free security for businesses at risk of looting and arson in Ferguson.
Victor Clark, a dentist at Ferguson Dental on South Florissant Road, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he was happy to have the Oath Keepers' free assistance.
On Monday, rioters shattered the business' front door and window, and stole dental needles and anesthetic.
Mr Clark said that when the Oath Keepers turned up they gave them their keys. 'We didn't know that much about them, but we got a feeling of trust,' he told the local paper. 'You have to do something to protect our building.'

Since being shut down, the group have now turned their efforts to conducting their own protests.
More than a dozen local businesses were razed to the ground last Monday, while many more were looted in a night of arson, random gunfire and pitched battles, with heavily armed riot police unable to cope with the scale of the mayhem.
By Tuesday, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon had sent more than 2,200 National Guard members to the Ferguson area to support local law enforcement.
The Oath Keepers focused their efforts on a strip of South Florissant Road that includes a Chinese restaurant, dentist office, bakery and number of apartments.

'When they're here, there's definitely a weight lifted off of our shoulders,' Davis Vo, whose family owns New Chinese Gourmet on the street, told the New York Times. 'I'd be lying if I said otherwise.'
Oath Keepers leader Sam Andrews declined to say how many people were assisting in the effort, saying only that the number was 'more than five, less than 500'.
'It's really a broad group of citizens, and I'm sure their motivations are all different,' Mr Andrews told the newspaper. 'In many of them, there's probably a sense of patriotism.
'But I think in most of them, there's probably something that they probably don't even recognize: that we have a moral obligation to protect the weakest among us.'

Sources:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ftops.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... 05ed6.html
It's good that the national guard is being deployed and the US government is getting it's ass into gear. I do not agree with vigilante style justice like this. What is your opinion on the shut down of the "Oath Keepers"?

[Risottia]

Ferguson police shut down armed 'Oath Keeper' vigilantes guarding rooftops of besieged town

The group offered protection for private businesses against looters and arsonists
Oath Keepers have since been threatened with arrest for operating without a licence

Armed group of unlicenced vigilantes offers "protection" for private businesses. Remindsa me offa something, capisc' ?

Well, at least the Ferguson police is getting one right.

[Avenio]

More than a dozen local businesses were razed to the ground last Monday, while many more were looted in a night of arson, random gunfire and pitched battles, with heavily armed riot police unable to cope with the scale of the mayhem.

Pretty sure that the situation isn't nearly that bad, I mean, who's writing this shit anyw

http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Ah, well that answers everything.

[WestRedMaple]

They are engaging in legal activities. Government has no place preventing legal actions based on membership in a legal organization.

Stopping people from protecting businesses makes the person doing the stopping an accomplice to any looting, arson, etc

[The Liberated Territories]

Naturally, the state - being the sole supplier of the monopoly of force - cannot tolerate competition, and instead attempts to maintain it's control even at the detriment to others. Even selfless acts by random individuals are punished. smh

[Salandriagado]

They are engaging in legal activities. Government has no place preventing legal actions based on membership in a legal organization.

Stopping people from protecting businesses makes the person doing the stopping an accomplice to any looting, arson, etc

No they aren't. They are operating without a license.

[Jamzmania]

So the police fail to protect local businesses from looters, and when civilians try to do their job for them, the police threaten to arrest them?

[New Aerios]

Strange. I guess now the job of the police is to encourage crime by threatening those who try to prevent it.

"Hey, we're the state, and we'll steal your money to fund a group of armed thugs whose job is to make you vulnerable to criminals!"

[Jamzmania]

Strange. I guess now the job of the police is to encourage crime by threatening those who try to prevent it.

"Hey, we're the state, and we'll steal your money to fund a group of armed thugs whose job is to make you vulnerable to criminals!"

Calling the police a group of "armed thugs" is completely inaccurate and uncalled for.

[New Aerios]

Strange. I guess now the job of the police is to encourage crime by threatening those who try to prevent it.

"Hey, we're the state, and we'll steal your money to fund a group of armed thugs whose job is to make you vulnerable to criminals!"

Calling the police a group of "armed thugs" is completely inaccurate and uncalled for.

Why? It's what they are. I could have a little more respect for them if they didn't run around murdering people and then threatening to arrest the civilians that try to protect people and property from looters, especially when the looters and rioters are only there because the cops run around murdering people.

[Jamzmania]

Calling the police a group of "armed thugs" is completely inaccurate and uncalled for.

Why? It's what they are. I could have a little more respect for them if they didn't run around murdering people and then threatening to arrest the civilians that try to protect people and property from looters, especially when the looters and rioters are only there because the cops run around murdering people.

Run around murdering people? You'd think there'd be alot more than 123 blacks shot in a year (out of a population of 40-something million) if they were that trigger happy. Why haven't they started mowing down the protestors either?

[The Holy Therns]

Good. Fuck vigilantism.

[New Aerios]

Good. Fuck vigilantism.

Yeah, fuck defending innocent people! Woooo, go looters!

[Washington Resistance Army]

That's a shame, they were just doing what the moronic officers in the police department wouldn't.

[The Holy Therns]

Good. Fuck vigilantism.

Yeah, fuck defending innocent people! Woooo, go looters!

Whatever you wanna think, sweetie.

[MERIZoC]

Thank god.

[Wombocombo]

Time to use google.
"a member of a self-appointed group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority, typically because the legal agencies are thought to be inadequate."
Vigilante.
I mean.
I guess that is what they are.
But they aren't really doing anything bad.